Flatirons Opera Company brings Mozart to Longmont

Dickens Opera House to host "Cosi Fan Tutte" in May

LONGMONT -- It's been a long time since opera was actually performed at the Dickens Opera House. But it's soon to return to the downtown venue.

A new local opera company plans to present its first production there next month.

The event will be a Longmont milestone both for the history it evokes at the venue and for the return of opera to the city, which has not had a hometown opera company in many years.

The company, called the Flatirons Opera Company, was co-founded by Erin Clark and her father, Jim Hassett. Clark said she is keenly aware of the heritage she is tapping into and that it creates some pressure.

Clark is a 24-year-old student at the University of Denver working on two master's degrees, in opera and music theory. Her husband, Ben, also 24, is the music director of Flatirons Opera and will provide the sole musical accompaniment, on piano, during the performance.

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For its debut, the company is planning a single performance of Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte." largely because their budget is still small. Dickens owners Sean and Lynn Owens offered the company the Opera House for free to stage the show, a gesture that Hassett said was a significant boost to the company.

Hassett, who says he has no musical skills but brings business experience to the organization, said Flatirons has enjoyed widespread community support.

"Everybody I've talked to has been so enthusiastic about it," he said.

One of those people was Joanne Kirves, executive director of the Longmont Council for the Arts, who said she offered the company advice on how to make a fledgling arts organization succeed, and she thinks Longmont has "a very sophisticated art consumer" that will help an opera company do so.

"I just think it's so cool that it's bringing opera back to the Opera House," Kirves said.

"Cosi Fan Tutte" is something of a romantic comedy. Clark said it will appeal to a general audience, though with its sexual innuendoes she gives it a PG rating. The cast will sing in Italian. But the audience will be able to follow along with a projected English translation.

The positive community reception the company has received even before its first show has encouraged organizers to plan for future shows, maybe about two a year.

"The best thing people can do if they want to help is to come see opera and spread the word," Clark said.

Co-director and business manager Jim Hassett, left, and Erin Clark look over notes during Monday s rehearsal of "Cosi Fan Tutte," which the Flatirons Opera Company will perform on May 5 at the Dickens Opera House.
(
Greg Lindstrom
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